Russia ships fuel to Cuba using 'spoofing' tactic challenging Trump embargo: reports

Russia is covertly shipping lipid to Cuba utilizing deceptive shipping tactics to bypass U.S. sanctions, according to maritime quality reports, and arsenic the land grapples with substance shortages and powerfulness outages.

One alleged transportation came amid 1 of Cuba’s worst vigor crises and up of a grid illness connected March 16 which near astir 10 cardinal radical without electricity, according to Cuban authorities and the U.S. Embassy successful Cuba.

"The Hong Kong-flagged tanker, which is not sanctioned, has AIS patterns that suggest the tanker spoofed its determination and apt sailed to Cuba to discharge its cargo successful aboriginal March," Windward AI said.

The Financial Times besides reported March 18 that different Russian-flagged tanker, Anatoly Kolodkin, carrying crude oil, was expected to scope Cuba by April 4.

"We are acceptable to supply each imaginable assistance," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had told reporters astatine a briefing connected Cuba connected March 17, The Moscow Times reported.

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Russia uses deceptive maritime tactics to bypass U.S. sanctions connected struggling Cuba amid vigor shortages (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

The alleged shipments came arsenic elder officials astatine the State Department told Fox News that, nether existing law, determination are ways for Cuban companies and citizens to acquisition oil, but said the Cuban authorities is making that impossible. 

The U.S. lipid embargo prevents the Cuban authorities from purchasing lipid only, the authoritative confirmed.

Windward AI archetypal identified the tanker, Sea Horse, arsenic the cardinal vas successful the suspected clandestine lipid transportation successful its study connected March 18.

The steadfast said the vas was thought to person transported astir 190,000 to 200,000 barrels to Cuba portion engaging successful behaviour accordant with sanctions evasion. Although the vas is not nether sanctions, Windward analysts flagged respective suspicious activities.

These included switching disconnected its Automatic Identification System (AIS) during a ship-to-ship transportation adjacent Cyprus — wherever it apt loaded its cargo — and sailing without Western insurance, some communal indicators of sanctions circumvention.

The tanker besides repeatedly altered its stated destination, initially signaling Havana earlier changing to "Gibraltar for orders," a maneuver often utilized to obscure last transportation points.

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A tanker sailing nether the emblem of Cuba, arrives astatine the larboard of Havana connected February 9, 2026.  (YAMIL LAGE / AFP via Getty Images)

After crossing the Atlantic, it appeared to drift portion broadcasting that it was "not nether command," with analysts suggesting its AIS signals whitethorn person been manipulated to conceal its existent determination and activities.

These movements powerfully bespeak that the vas whitethorn person completed an unreported transportation to Cuba earlier resuming mean transmissions.

Since Jan. 29, U.S. measures — efficaciously creating an lipid blockade — person disrupted substance shipments to the island.

The argumentation displacement followed large changes successful Venezuela and the apprehension of Nicolás Maduro, further tightening proviso to Cuba and discouraging different tankers from approaching its ports.

President Donald Trump had warned that countries supplying lipid to Cuba could look tariffs, portion Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the measures arsenic an "economic war" and pledged continued absorption successful a station shared connected X.

"The lone mode for Cuba to hole its vigor situation is to code the basal origin of its economical failures: full authorities power of economical life," a U.S. authoritative told Fox News connected March 17.

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People locomotion connected the thoroughfare during a blackout successful Havana, Cuba, connected Monday, March 16, 2026.  (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

"The authorities indispensable marque important changes, allowing for privatization and for the Cuban radical to supply for themselves," they said.

Otherwise, different elder State Department authoritative said Cuba's blackouts person "sadly go communal for galore years successful Cuba — a grounds of the failing regime’s incompetence and inability to supply adjacent the astir basal goods and services for its people."

"This is the tragic effect of implicit 60 years of Communist rule. An land that was erstwhile the crown jewel of the Caribbean has plunged into utmost poorness and darkness.

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"As President Trump has said, what is near of the authorities should marque a woody and yet fto the Cuban radical beryllium escaped and prosperous, with the assistance of the United States," the authoritative said.

"Cuba close present is successful precise atrocious shape. They’re talking to Marco," Trump told reporters March 17 earlier adding that "we’ll beryllium doing thing with Cuba precise soon."